Former Taiwan soccer coach Chen Kuei-jen (陳貴人) was reportedly removed from an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) game involving Taiwan’s women’s national team in Sydney on Tuesday for shouting “go Taiwan” after organizers told fans to use “Chinese Taipei” to refer to the team.
Taiwan defeated India 3-1 in the match, sending them into the quarter-finals of the Women’s Asian Cup.
Fans said that they were asked to sit down by staff, as “standing to cheer” was not allowed.
Photo: AFP
However, fans of India’s team who were standing, cheering and banging drums were not restricted in the same manner, they said.
During halftime, Chen — who represented Taiwan 11 times as a player in the 1990s and was head coach of the men’s national team from 2012 to 2016 — was reportedly removed from the stadium by security personnel after shouting “Taiwan.”
Tiffany Chen, a Taiwanese fan in the stands, said that Chen Kuei-jen encouraged fans to create a lively atmosphere in the mostly empty stadium, the Guardian reported.
“He was standing away from the aisle, having the time of his life,” Tiffany Chen said. “Social media people from the tournament were taking videos of him and saying: ‘This is such a great vibe.’”
The national soccer association later said that the AFC told Taiwanese fans to refer to their team as “Chinese Taipei.”
Restricting the way fans cheer and forbidding them from saying “Taiwan” goes beyond crowd management — it suppresses the basic rights and identity of Taiwanese fans, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Po-yi (李柏毅) said.
Cheering for the national team and shouting the country’s name is a fundamental right, Lee said.
Taiwan has long faced political pressure from China in the international arena, with its name, flag and other symbols frequently restricted or excluded, he said.
For Taiwan there has never been room to separate politics from sports, as China has long sought to suppress and diminish its national status on the global stage, he added.
Lee said he would ask the Ministry of Sports and the Australian Office Taipei to express their concern over the incident, and ask Football Australia to explain the incident and prevent a similar situation from arising again.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs later yesterday said that its representative office in Sydney had “immediately lodged a strong protest on the spot” on Tuesday, which prevented staff at the match from further “mistreating” Taiwanese spectators.
The office sent a letter to AFC general secretary Windsor John to protest “unequal treatment” and urge “organizers to uphold human rights and the principles of fairness in the competition,” the foreign ministry said.
The office also conveyed its “dissatisfaction and concern” to local police, it added.
People should pay attention to how this case develops and unite in support of Taiwan, he added.
No matter how challenging the international environment, the voices of Taiwanese cheering for their national team should not be silenced, Lee said.
Prior to their win over India, Taiwan lost to Japan 2-0 and beat Vietnam 1-0 to finish second in Group C with a 2-1 record and advance to the quarter-finals.
They face China in Perth on Saturday for a spot in the semi-finals.
Additional reporting by CNA and AFP
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